Tag: Charity

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Kielder 4×4 Safari May 2013 Event Report

May’s event started at our normal start and breakfast venue, the Dukes Pantry at Kielder Castle. The drive along the C200 towards the Castle gave a little clue to what sort of day we were going to have with some rather large puddles spanning the road.

After registration and driver briefing we headed off into Bewshaugh where the tracks were wet and muddy but didn’t pose any problems until we got to a track that crosses Sturdy Sike. Here the track had washed out quite badly but we managed to get all the 4×4’s, ranging from a brand new Land Rover Freelander, a VW Touareg, a Mercedes GL and the usual range of other Land Rovers, down the incline and washed out section with very little problems.

After Bewshaugh we headed into Kielder for a circular loop ending at the Dam for a lunch and toilet stop. After a rather damp lunchtime we headed back over the dam for another loop of the Southern part of the Forest. Once complete we headed back over the dam to Falstone Forest and did a couple of circular tracks around the fire tower before finishing the day off at the dam car park around 5pm.

Chatting to a few of the supporters after the event it transpired that this had been their first time off-road and they were surprised just how capable their own vehicles were and how they had really enjoyed the day. We would love to welcome you back to a future event and extend that invitation to anybody else who has a 4×4 but maybe haven’t really used it off-road, why not book a Kielder 4×4 Safari and come and join in the fun and raise some money for the Mountain Rescue Team.

If this sounds like something you would like to experience then why not head over to our bookings page and sign up for the next Safari on Sunday 30th June 2013

If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch, you can find our details on the Contact Page

The Kielder 4×4 Safari proceeds go to Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team. Registered Charity 511313.

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Kielder 4×4 Safari April 2013 Event Report

April’s event started with a welcome return to The Duke’s Pantry at Kielder Castle for breakfast and sorting paperwork, the Mountain Rescue team also brought their brand new vehicle with them to show off to the the capacity entry for the Safari. By taking part in the Kielder 4×4 Safari you have helped towards the huge cost of buying and equipping the new vehicle, and the Mountain Rescue Team would like to thank all those who support our event and those who support the Team directly as without your support they would not be able to operate.

Making a début on this event also was Kielder 4×4 Safari’s new (to us) support vehicle, the white Land Rover Defender 110 has been retired from an active serving Mountain Rescue vehicle and will now be used by the Safari as a support vehicle on events and also keep an eye out for it at some of the local shows in the summer where we will be doing more fund raising.

As we were fully booked for the event we had to split the cars into two groups, which meant two convoys, each doing a separate route, then meeting up at the Dam at lunchtime and then the convoys switched routes in the afternoon. We had a mixture of surfaces to deal with, from the snow on the higher ground, some muddy trails and we even had to contend with dust on convoy two’s run back to the castle.

We had quite a few new faces on this event and from talking to people at the end everybody seems to have enjoyed themselves and we would love to welcome you back at a future event, this welcome of course is also extended to our regular visitors, some of who have supported us for a long time.

If this sounds like something you would like to experience then why not head over to our bookings page and sign up for the next Safari on Saturday 18th May 2013

If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch, you can find our details on the Contact Page

The Kielder 4×4 Safari proceeds go to Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team. Registered Charity 511313.

 

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Even The International Space Station are interested in Kielder 4×4 Safari!

Whilst doing a bit of work behind the scenes on the Kielder 4×4 Safari website I happened to have a Google Analytics window open on the 2nd monitor on my computer. Google Analytics is the system we use to monitor how many people are visiting our website and what people are searching for when they visit us, this helps us make sure that the website is getting out to our target audience.

Well imagine my surprise when I noticed a new visitor on the site but their location was moving across the Indian Ocean and across Australia, so I clicked on it and this is what I saw

Click on Image for a better view
Click on Image for a better view

Were the International Space Station really interested in coming out with us to drive the trails around Kielder Forest as their next mission?

Was NASA wanting to test their new Mars Rover on the Kielder 4×4 Safari?

Excitedly, I clicked on the link to see what The International Space Station was looking at, what could be of interest to our orbiting friends?

As I was clicking on the link to see which page they were looking at it all dropped into place.

Click on Image for a better view
Click on Image for a better view

Thanks Google you had me going there, as you can see in the image the page they were looking at is ‘April Fool’s’ and there are 41 visitors on the page which I assume is the way that the USA write their dates 4/1

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New Land Rover for Mountain Rescue Team

NNPMRT's New Land Rover Defender joins the fleet.
NNPMRT’s New Land Rover Defender joins the fleet.

The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team took delivery of a brand new vehicle this week which will be known as ‘Curlew Delta’. The new vehicle will replace ‘Curlew X-Ray’, which will be retired from active service as a rescue vehicle and will hopefully become a fund raising/support vehicle for the team, so you may well see it on future Kielder 4×4 Safari events.

The new vehicle is a Land Rover Defender 110, which was supplied and fitted out by Lakeland Land Rover. The fully equipped rescue ambulance is now ready and awaiting its first call to action along with ‘Curlew Charlie’.  The funds raised by the Kielder 4×4 Safari have helped towards the huge cost of buying and equipping a new vehicle, and the Mountain Rescue Team would like to thank all those who support our event and those who support the Team directly as without your support they would not be able to operate.

 

Please visit http://www.nnpmrt.org/ for more information on The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team

 

 

Old meets new
Old meets new

 

 

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Kielder 4×4 Safari February 2013 Event Report

When we arrived at Kielder Forest and Water park early on the morning of our February event we were greeted with a blanket of mist covering the reservoir and filling the valley, most of the snow had disappeared from the lower parts of the forest but was still visible on the hilltops. We also had a new meeting venue for breakfast as the Duke’s Pantry is still undergoing its renovations at the Castle. The new meeting place was The Boat Inn at Leaplish Waterside Park and the staff provided a great welcome and a very filling breakfast which was eaten overlooking the perfectly still reservoir.

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Kielder 4×4 Safari January 2013 Event Report

The first Kielder 4×4 Safari of 2013 took place yesterday in a very cold and snowy Kielder Forest in Northumberland. With the Dukes Pantry closed for refurbishment we met for breakfast and signing on at The Boe Rigg just outside Bellingham. Once everybody was fed and the briefing had taken place we headed off into the forest, with about a dozen cars in the convoy, because the Safari has access to tracks not normally available to the public we were literally creating our own tracks in the virgin snow! At times Ian in the lead car had difficulty knowing where the track was so we had to proceed with caution but luckily we made it through the morning session without incident and headed back to Kielder Castle for lunch.

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